techno write "can you imagine a black man with Moby's electronica, techno celebrity status? The American music industry wouldn't allow for something like that to happen, the irony is Moby rips off black music."
Are there any black techno people out that there make crappy rocktronica for the masses and possess marketable qualities at the same time? I think it has more to do with marketability than with the color of ones skin. Just look at Will Smith. Made crappy rap for the masses, a crappy tv sitcom for the masses, crappy movies for the masses. Presto, a 20 million a picture, platinum record selling, oscar nominated superstar that makes Moby and Eminem look small in comparison. Will Smith is black, but at the same time he is extremely marketable to a majority of people. Lets face it, Jeff Mills is brilliant but he is not marketable. If he stopped making quality techno and started making crappy rocktronica he would still have to jump the hurdle of marketable personality. There are reasons why the people/work we like are not products for mass consumption. Either there will be a huge shift in the rabble(possible but highly improbable) or there will be a shift in the people/work we like(possible but highly questionable). Sometimes contributing something meaningful and pure means more than being on the cover of rolling stone and making millions of dollars. If Jeff Mills or Carl Craig want to chase superstardom, fine, but they are not going to succeed at it by doing the stuff that only appealed to a niche audience/market(ie all of us). techno wrote:
It's almost surreal always seeing him in the headlines, it makes me think back to 1991 watching him performing at a rave in front of 500 people standing behind his SY 77 keyboard. Now he's making Millions of dollars in album sales, tv commercials endorsements (Microsoft). Can you imagine a black man with Moby's electronica, techno celebrity status? The American music industry wouldn't allow for something like that to happen, the irony is Moby rips off black music. Out of curiosity I was listing to one of his live performances from his last album and he was trying to sound like a black Baptist preacher, I feaaal it, I feeeeaaaal it, yeaaah... in a shaky, black tone of voice. I guess he was trying to sound gospel, making holy spirit and jesus refrences, I remember thinking how uncomfortable it would have been to actually attend that concert, like going to a Christian rock concert. The we are made of stars song he perfromed on SNL sounds a little more endurable, back to his rock n'roll roots I geuss. To make this a little more on topic I remember when Moby dissed Jeff Mills for still playing dominator back in 92-93. This was when Moby was getting tied of the techno genre.
